Wirjono Prodjodikoro
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Wirjono Prodjodikoro (15 June 1903 – April 1985) was the head justice of the
Indonesian Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia () is the independent judicial arm of the state. It maintains a system of courts and sits above the other courts and is the final court of appeal. It can also re-examine cases if new evidence emerg ...
from 1952 to 1966.


Biography

Wirjono was born in
Surakarta Surakarta (Javanese script, Javanese: , Pegon script, Pegon: ), known colloquially as Solo (Javanese script, Javanese: ; ), is a major List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java, Indonesia. The city adjoins Karanganyar Reg ...
,
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
, on 15 June 1903. After completing his primary education, he attended the Rechtsschool in Batavia, graduating in 1922. He then became a judge, later taking time to study at
Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...
in
Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
,
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. Although Wirjono had already announced his candidacy for the
People's Representative Council The House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (, DPR-RI or simply DPR) is one of two elected chambers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the national legislature of Indonesia. It is considered the lower house, while th ...
, in early 1952 he was selected as head justice of the Indonesian Supreme Court, replacing Kusumah Atmaja. During his time as head justice, the court was explicitly under the
executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...
of the government. He was increasingly marginalized; for example, when he accompanied the Indonesian president to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in 1959, he sat with senators and congressmen, while his American counterpart,
Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 30th governor of California from 1943 to 1953 and as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presid ...
, was seated with Presidents
Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...
and
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
. In another case, Sukarno invited
Ruslan Abdulgani Ruslan Abdulgani (his first name is also spelled Roeslan; 24 November 1914 – 29 June 2005) was an Indonesian government official and diplomat known for his role as a leader during the Indonesian National Revolution in the late 1940s, and as a ...
to breakfast when Abdulgani was supposed to be before the court as a slight to the court's powers. In 1960, Wirjono was appointed to the cabinet. Initially stating that his appointment would not affect the
separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...
, when Sukarno did away with the legal concept Wirjono felt tricked and considered resigning. Towards the end of
Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...
's regime, Wirjono continued to garner greater power. Together with Minister of Justice Sahardjo, Wirjono argued for greater protection of the freedoms of criminals and suspects; this eventually won general support, as the populace was displeased with the poor performance of Prosecutor General Goenawan. The two then moved to civil law reform; Wirjono strongly supported Sahardjo's suggestion to rescind the current civil and commercial codes. However, this was opposed by advocates and judges; the advocates and judges argued that said proposal would increase legal uncertainty, while Wirjono argued that little would change as much had already been replaced. Wirjono eventually propagated a circular on 5 September 1963 that declared seven articles that were to be considered invalid, involving gifts, rentals, and legitimation of children born out of wedlock. Wirjono later replaced Astrawinata to become the Minister of Justice in the
Second Revised Dwikora Cabinet The Second Revised Dwikora Cabinet () was the Indonesian cabinet which served under President Sukarno from March 1966 until July 1966. The cabinet was formed after Lieutenant General Suharto, using the powers that Sukarno gave to him through Sup ...
, serving from 28 March to 25 July 1966. After
Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...
took greater control of the government, Wirjono was replaced by
Umar Seno Aji Umar Seno Aji (5 December 1915 – 9 November 1984) was the fifth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Indonesia as well as the fourteenth Indonesian Minister of Law and Human Rights. Aji's appointment as minister of law in 1966 was initi ...
. Wirjono died in April 1985.


Legal acts

Wirjono was instrumental in drafting Emergency Law Number 1 of 1951, which established that there were three levels of court in Indonesia: public, appeals, and supreme. Later, when dealing with a
Batak Karo The Karo (also known as Karo Batak) people are a people of the ''Tanah Karo'' (Karo lands) in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The Karo lands consist of Karo Regency, plus neighboring areas in East Aceh Regency, Langkat Regency, Dairi Regency, Simal ...
''
adat Alesis Digital Audio Tape, commonly referred to as ADAT, is a magnetic tape format used for the Sound recording and reproduction, recording of eight digital audio tracks onto the same S-VHS tape used by consumer VCRs, and the basis of a serie ...
'' (traditional law) inheritance case as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he and the court ruled that women had a right to an inheritance; this was against the Karo ''adat''. However, his term as chief justice saw a greater increase in state intervention, with one of his 1964 instructions stating that the justices would have to work together with the prosecution to ensure that the verdict did not stray far from the indictment.


References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * * * *


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prodjodikoro, Wirjono 1903 births 1985 deaths Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Indonesia People from Surakarta Leiden University alumni Government ministers of Indonesia